Tools & Tips Archives - Page 4 of 5

Determine upfront how good a supplier is before signing the contract

Leave a Comment / Supplier Selection, Supply Chain Management SCM, Tools & Tips / StaffWriter

Most organisations have experienced a supplier who committed to a deadline and then failed to adhere to it or claimed to have certain skills and knowledge in-house, which in the end it could not provide. Douglas MacGregor, MD of supplier service benchmarking company SuppDex tells SmartProcurement that contacting a prospective supplier’s other customers offers a […]

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Strike action – 5 tips for breaking negotiation deadlock

Leave a Comment / Negotiation, Tools & Tips / StaffWriter

“Zuma intervenes in public sector strike in its third week.” President Jacob Zuma intervened in the 13-day public sector strike in the early hours of Monday morning, instructing ministers to immediately return to the negotiating table. “He appealed to both sides to put the interests of the country first. That would mean give and take

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Is your supply chain ready for AARTO?

Leave a Comment / Contract Management, Risk Management, Tools & Tips / Editor

Whether or not the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) has yet been implemented, your supply chain may face logistics and delivery difficulties if you have not put measures in place to cope with possible driver disqualifications under the new administrative framework. SmartProcurement has some suggestions. AARTO will work as follows: each traffic violation

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Uncovering huge savings possibilities in operational procurement

Leave a Comment / Procurement Strategy, Service Outsourcing, SRM Supplier Relationship Management, Supplier Relationship Management Systems, Tools & Tips / StaffWriter

There’s never been a more important time for procurement to identify and direct their organisations to realise potential cost savings effectively, both within current spending and also when assessing new ventures. One area of focus is the purchase to pay (PTP) arena. A key indicator of a world-class procurement organisation is the use of a

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Break the deadlock and move forward!

Leave a Comment / Negotiation, Tools & Tips / Editor

An impasse or deadlock in negotiations is not uncommon. An issue or condition that neither side seems able to agree upon brings the entire negotiation to a grinding halt. SmartProcurement wonders what a negotiator can do when faced with a deadlocked negotiation. Are there techniques which can be used to break the deadlock? Andrew C.

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Banks are just another supplier

Leave a Comment / Procurement Cards, Sourcing Strategy, Supplier Management, Supplier Selection, Tools & Tips / StaffWriter

An organisation’s banking partner should be dealt with like any strategic supplier, Julian Curtiss, MD of Transaction Technology Solutions, tells SmartProcurement. “Maybe I’m missing a point somewhere, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that banks are highly overrated. Aristotle wrote: “it is the mark of an educated mind to be

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How in-house printing savings are generated with reference to MPS services: Analysing user requirements

Leave a Comment / Print / Document, Supplier Selection, Tools & Tips / StaffWriter

Before any informed decision can be made regarding an organisation’s hardware and equipment specifications, a Managed Print Solutions (MPS) provider will need to clearly understand and analyse the following: The exact user and business requirements across the entire organisation / print estate (where, what, when, why, internal / external usage, colour / mono, etc.); Specific

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15 Simple Rules for effective Negotiations

Leave a Comment / Education, Negotiation, Procurement Training, Tools & Tips / Editor

“Organisations can no longer only rely on their products and services to differentiate themselves”, Tom Beasor, an acclaimed international negotiator told SmartProcurement. “Often, it is the actual level of training of their personnel that makes the deciding difference.” This applies as much to your hard skills (technical competence) as it does to your soft

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The Law of Government Procurement in South Africa

Leave a Comment / Compliance / Legal, Contract Management, Tools & Tips / bernievn

Publisher Lexis Nexis has launched the The Law of Government Procurement in South Africa, the very first comprehensive analysis of this topic. It systematically covers the entire field of law applicable to government procurement and examines the scope and effect of the current procurement legislation in the light of existing case law and commentary. This

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Do’s and don’ts when developing Office Automation tenders

Leave a Comment / Contract Management, Print / Document, Tools & Tips / bernievn

“By rights, the issuing of a tender should mean the company is serious about placing orders – after all, respondents approach tenders with a belief that the company has realised a pressing need for the equipment, system and or services in question,” Billy Bell of Bell Output Strategies told Smart Procurement. “However, in many instances

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